The NYT reports that according to a newly-published article in the journal Addictive Behaviors, Korean-American men, especially older ones, smoke at a rate far higher than U.S. averages. This is due to social expectations of manly behavior rooted in their homelands. The study team was led by Grace X. Ma of Temple University's Center For Asian Health, and suggests that U.S. smoking cessation researchers should devise new approaches to combat this health disparity. The NYT article states: "One approach, the researchers said, is to come up with ways of modeling social behavior in Korean communities that does not center on smoking." Meaning exactly, what? Sending "street teams" of Koreans into targeted social gatherings of middle-aged Korean-American men to not smoke, or drink? Good luck. Getting the makers of movies and print ads aimed at Korean-Americans to go light on smoking scenes? Hmm, maybe. I think they'll need a research grant to figure out the next steps.......and then some backing for a national public education campaign.......

America is about choices. Assimilation will ameliorate the problem on its own, as the next and more health-conscious generation of Korean-American men comes of age. This is really about trying to secure more funding for Marxist-Light propaganda on "health disparities." It is not racial categorizations, group cultural practices, nor supposed institutional indifference that are responsible for personal health. It is the individual. There should no more be a Center For Asian Health at Temple University than a Center For Cajun Health at the University of Louisiana.

TECHNORATI TAGS: SMOKING, DISPARITIES, SMOKING CESSATION,KOREAN-AMERICAN MEN, ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS, CENTER FOR ASIAN HEALTH, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, GRACE X. MA